Indy’s Best Thanksgiving Desserts and Where to Find Them
Whether you’re hosting Thanksgiving or heading to a gathering somewhere else, remember that you don’t have to make everything from scratch, especially when it comes to dessert! Let a talented local Indianapolis bakery handle the sweets so you can focus on the turkey, sides, and quality time with friends and family.
1. Stay Classic with Holiday Pies
Of course, no Thanksgiving table is complete without pie! Indy’s bakeries can cover the full spectrum of pies for you and yours:
- Long’s Bakery never disappoints with scratch-made, old-school pumpkin and pecan pies. Both the west side and south side locations take pre-orders; just don’t forget your cash.
- Pots & Pans Pie Co. is well-known for their handcrafted specialty pies. This woman-owned bakery in the Broad Ripple neighborhood even offers take-and-bake pies and will ship pies if you’re gifting across the miles.
- Boyden’s Southside Bakery makes serving a big crowd easy with their large, traditional pies perfect for family-style sharing.
- Cretia Cakes on the north side is the go-to bakery for Southern favorites like sweet potato pie and pecan pie, both of which are filled with homey, comforting spices that will live in your memory for years.
2. Bring Nostalgia with Pumpkin Rolls & Spice Cakes
When you’re ready to venture past the pies, you can’t go wrong with a show-stopping pumpkin roll! Gwendolyn Lee Cakery in Beech Grove offers gorgeous and delicious pumpkin rolls filled with your choice of cream cheese icing or vanilla buttercream. You can even request a gluten free pumpkin roll when placing your preorder.
Taylor’s Bakery in the Castleton area and Sweet Escape Cake Company on the south side also bring the beauty and taste with their cinnamon-spiced loaf cakes, sticky rolls, and seasonal layer cakes that travel well and pair beautifully with coffee after dinner.
3. Stand Out with Persimmon Pudding and Tarts
If you want something uniquely Hoosier, Amelia’s offers Indiana persimmon pudding as a Thanksgiving pickup item from their Fletcher Place location. This dense pudding is warmly spiced with ginger, cloves, and cinnamon, and it will add just the right amount of variety to any Thanksgiving dessert table.
If you’re looking for bright, tart desserts to cut through all of those rich turkey dinner flavors, then Kim’s Kakery on the south side has cranberry tarts and mini-cheesecakes to send your taste buds on a ride.
4. Go Interactive with Decorating Kits or a Pie-Making Class
Vanilla Bean Bakery on the north side makes dessert even more fun by offering cookie and cupcake kits that provide everything you need to make festive and delicious desserts with your loved ones.
If you’re hoping to learn how to make scrumptious, eye-catching pies, then Circle City Sweets can school you into the spotlight. They host a Thanksgiving pie class that teaches basic techniques and sends you home with pies to enjoy!
5. Appeal to the Masses with Dessert Boards and Trays
If you’re having trouble picking just one type of dessert, then don’t. Go for a dessert board, cookie tray, cake pop assortment, or cupcake platter to make sure everyone can find something to love on your dessert table.
Kim’s Kakery, Cretia Cakes, Vanilla Bean Bakery, Taylor’s Bakery, and Sweet Escape Cake Company all offer assorted cookies, cakes, or pastries that are perfect for grazing.
Thanksgiving in Indy is a sweet excuse to support one of our many capable local bakeries. Let them take some of the stress out of your holiday by preordering early and checking dessert off your list. Just make sure you order enough to have plenty of leftovers!
